New mandatory reporting requirements impact biofuel companies

By Richard Weiner and Barbara Muller | February 02, 2015

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis has recently reinstated certain reporting requirements for foreign direct investments in the U.S. that had been abolished in 2009. These requirements impact all foreign biofuels companies that make a qualifying foreign direct investment in a company in the U.S. and all U.S. biofuels companies that receive a qualifying foreign direct investment from a company or individual overseas. According to these requirements, U.S. affiliates of foreign companies must file a Form BE-13 with the BEA for certain activities undertaken in the U.S. “U.S. affiliates” are all U.S. business entities in which a foreign company or foreign individual owns directly or indirectly at least 10 percent of the voting interest (or the equivalent of such voting interest).

Form BE-13 must be filed within 45 days after the qualifying foreign direct investment in the U.S. The reporting requirement was reinstated retroactively to Jan. 1, 2014. All of the information provided to the BEA will be treated as confidential and may only be used for analytical or statistical purposes.

Failure to file a required report in a timely manner will result in civil penalties of at least $2,500 but not more than $32,500 (the amounts are subject to inflationary adjustments). Any company that willfully fails to file a report will be fined up to $10,000, and if an individual, may be imprisoned for up to one year. Officers, directors, employees and agents of a corporation who knowingly participate in such violations may be punished by such fine, imprisonment or both.